This description relates to managing task execution.
A data processing system typically stores, manages, processes, and analyzes data. A data processing system may simply handle one or more tasks scheduled to be completed at a certain time. Alternatively, a data processing system may be a large-scale customer relationship management system. Simple or complex, a data processing system often includes one or more components, such as processing elements, input data, and output data. The processing elements of a data processing system determine the function of the data processing system, for example, data warehouse, customer relationship management, and data mining, etc. Input data of a data processing system can come from many sources. For example, input data may come from flat files, database tables, operational systems, etc. Input data may also come from the Internet, carrying information from one system to another. Output data of a data processing system are what the processing elements generate. Formats of output data vary depending on the processing elements that generate them.